What Your Luggage Says About You When You Fly

You may think you have your dirty laundry zipped up tightly into your hardshell carry-on, but is your Samsonite giving up your secrets more easily than a TSA-approved lock? According to psychologists, they can tell a lot about you just by the luggage you carry.Here’s what they say your suitcase says about you when you fly.Image by Thomas Barwick / Getty Images.Carry-on BagsInsist on carrying on all your baggage rather than giving it up to the gorillas on the tarmac?...

February 10, 2023 · 5 min · 962 words · Lorraine Childress

When You Re On The Utah Arizona Border Your Phone Doesn T Know What Time It Is

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.There’s few things we love more than learning about weird things while traveling (well, except from a good award redemption, of course). And from a toxic pit in Montana to a box the size of a bathroom stall you can find in airports, we thought we’d seen just about everything....

February 10, 2023 · 2 min · 248 words · Heidi Senter

Who S Being Grandfathered Into Marriott S Lifetime Premier Platinum Status

“Reader Questions” are answered twice a week by TPG Associate Editor Brendan Dorsey.The Marriott and SPG programs are now officially combined, but many customers still have a number of questions, especially regarding how lifetime elites will be treated in the new system. TPG reader Roger wrote in asking how his lifetime Marriott Platinum elite will be grandfathered into the new program…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Roger”]Has anyone been grandfathered into Lifetime Premier Platinum status from your Marriott Lifetime Platinum elite status?...

February 10, 2023 · 3 min · 561 words · Curtis Rivera

Woman Wins 70 000 Lawsuit After Air Canada Booted Her Family From Flight

An Indian court has ordered Air Canada to pay a woman and her family nearly $70,000 in damages for violating their passengers’ rights last year.On September 3, 2017, Minali Mittal, along with her 3-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, was traveling from Chandigarh, India (IXC), home to Toronto (YYZ). During a stopover in Delhi (DEL), Mittal’s daughter, Teesha, threw up in the airplane aisle in response to a “foul smell” emanating from the locked lavatory....

February 10, 2023 · 3 min · 467 words · Nicola Swanson

5 Summer Reads For Aviation Enthusiasts

Memorial Day marks the start of summer and a chance for you to enjoy some summer reads. Below are a selection of summer reads for anyone with a passing interesting about flying and aviation, and wanting to learn more.1. The Right StuffTom Wolfe, the recently-deceased author best known for “Bonfire of the Vanities,” also penned “The Right Stuff” — a lesser-known nonfiction work that chronicles the early days of the space program (and was later turned into a movie)....

February 9, 2023 · 4 min · 714 words · Barbara Davis

Air France Strike Cancels 25 Of Flights Threatens Ceo S Job

Air France yet again canceled a quarter of its total flights on Monday and Tuesday as the airline continues to deal with employee strikes that have rocked the carrier all spring and has cost it about $270 million.Monday marked the 10th day of the strike, which began in February and has been unfolding in multi-day spurts since then. Roughly 28% of Air France pilots are expected to participate in Monday and Tuesday’s strike over staff pay disputes, and about 20% of flight attendants will take part as well....

February 9, 2023 · 2 min · 326 words · Donna Thompson

Air New Zealand May Use Augmented Reality To Remember Your Next Meal

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Air New Zealand is looking to up their customer service game with an interesting new piece of technology. The carrier has paired with Microsoft to introduce the computer company’s HoloLens AR headset into flight attendants’ uniforms. The headset, which looks like a large set of sunglasses which extra headgear, could relay information to the attendant like your favorite drink, favorite meal, the last time you ate or drank and even your mood....

February 9, 2023 · 2 min · 302 words · Terence Mikes

And The Winners Of My La Times Travel Show Giveaway Are

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.As I mentioned earlier this week, I’ll be appearing at the LA Times Travel Show tomorrow on a panel at noon titled, More for Your Money: The Best Value for Your Vacation Dollars along with Johnny Jet and moderated by LA Times Web Buzz columnist Jen Leo....

February 9, 2023 · 2 min · 345 words · Ronald Spell

Can You Change Or Cancel An Award Ticket After A Missed Flight

“Reader Questions” are answered three days a week — Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — by TPG Senior Writer Julian Mark Kheel.TPG reader Alicia has a friend… but maybe not any longer after she got stuck holding the bag on an unused mileage ticket, as she tells us in an email…[pullquote source=“TPG Reader Alicia”]I booked a ticket using my miles for a friend with American Airlines. He bailed last minute and did not make the flight....

February 9, 2023 · 3 min · 637 words · Carmen Stitt

Delta It Issue Temporarily Grounds Flights Nationwide

In a situation reminiscent of Delta’s multi-day IT outage in late 2016, Delta flights nationwide were grounded for more than an hour Tuesday night due to an IT issue. At 8:28pm ET, Delta issued the following statement:“Delta IT teams are working diligently to address a technology issue impacting some of our systems. We have issued a Delta groundstop as we work to bring systems back up as quickly as possible. There has been no disruption or safety issue with any Delta flight currently in the air....

February 9, 2023 · 2 min · 357 words · Craig Hall

Delta S Giving You An Enlightening Alternative To Vegging Out On Your Next Flight

Prior to the advent of in-flight Wi-Fi, strapping into a metal tube hurtling across the sky was one of the last remaining places to disconnect from the frenzy of work and life. For a brief moment in time, where movies were loaded into seatback screens yet Gogo wasn’t around to keep you synced with Earth’s surface, vegging out and savoring the entertainment mere inches from your retinas was totally okay. In fact, it ranked pretty high among life’s littlest big pleasures....

February 9, 2023 · 3 min · 500 words · Joseph Richardson

Despite Travel Ban The Us Saw The Most International Visitors Ever

Even though 2017’s headlines rocked the world with a “travel ban” in the US, the country still saw the highest number of international visitors than it ever has before.The US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) announced on Tuesday that almost 77 million international visitors entered the United States in 2017. That’s a .7% percent increase from the previous year.International travelers reportedly spent a record $251.4 billion on travel expenses within the US like hotels and food — a 2% increase from 2016....

February 9, 2023 · 2 min · 371 words · Francis Niebuhr

Don T Expect To Have A Consistent Experience With American Airlines Fleet

A few days ago, TPG flew American Airlines domestic first class from Philadelphia (PHL) to Las Vegas (LAS). To say that he was underwhelmed would be an understatement, and plenty of fellow flyers agree.Indeed, JetBlue emergency exit rows feature 38-39 inches of pitch, a TV and power outlets. Meanwhile, this version of American Airlines’ A321 has 36 inches of pitch and no power or entertainment screens — in first class.But not all AA planes are this bad, which brings up an interesting point — American Airlines’ fleet is quite inconsistent....

February 9, 2023 · 4 min · 820 words · Larry Skeen

Exciting New Airline Routes For March 2017 And Beyond

Airlines around the world launch and announce dozens of new flight routes and service changes every month. Today, I’ll share just a few of the latest flights that will take to the skies this month or in the near future. Keep in mind that exact flight details (like schedules and aircraft, among other things) may change based on your travel dates.NEW ROUTES LAUNCHED IN MARCH 2017Emirates received a water cannon salute when departing from Athens for Newark on March 12....

February 9, 2023 · 7 min · 1475 words · Jill Barretta

Exciting New Routes For July 2016 And Beyond

Each month, airlines around the world launch and announce dozens of new flight routes and service changes — and today, TPG Points & Miles Editor Sarah Silbert shares just a few of the latest flights that will take to the skies this month or in the near future. Keep in mind that exact flight details (e.g., flight schedules, aircraft and more) may change based on travel dates.NEW ROUTES LAUNCHED IN JULY 2016Fly nonstop from San Francisco to Hangzhou on United’s 787-9 Dreamliner....

February 9, 2023 · 7 min · 1406 words · Dillon Daugherty

Hotel Review A Park Suite At The Park Hyatt Toronto

My friend and I recently took a quick trip to Toronto so I could experience two things for the first time: flying on Porter Airlines and staying at the Park Hyatt — we also crossed some only-in-Canada moments off our list, like trying craft beer, gazing out at Niagara Falls and taking a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Here’s how it went down at the Park Hyatt, located in the city’s posh Yorkville neighborhood and about a 15-minute Uber ride from Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)....

February 9, 2023 · 6 min · 1232 words · Jonathan Martinez

Hotels That Offer A Full Kitchen Available On Points

Outside of lodging and transportation one pricey but unavoidable cost that can really hit families hard on vacation are meal costs. Most families have long since learned how to keep food costs lower at home by cooking, packing snacks, hunting down “kids eat free” nights, or otherwise knowing where they can turn to feed their crew without taking out a small loan in the process. However, on vacation many of those tricks and tips can be hard to implement, especially if you are staying in a traditional hotel room with no kitchen....

February 9, 2023 · 6 min · 1072 words · Louise Benda

How You Can Still Fly A 747 In North America

As much as we like to pretend that it’s not, the end of the 747 era is upon us. United flew its last commercial 747 flight last month between San Francisco (SFO) and Honolulu (HNL). After United flight 747, Delta was the lone remaining US carrier to fly the Queen of the Skies, though it too just operated its last commercial flight on Tuesday, December 19 between Seoul (ICN) and Detroit (DTW)....

February 9, 2023 · 11 min · 2171 words · Brenda Lee

How You Can Still Fly Turkish Airlines Without A Visa

Update 12/28/2017: The Turkey-US visa spat has been resolved and now Americans are able to easily apply for Turkish e-visas once again.Early Monday, Turkey halted the issuance of new visas for US citizens — effectively, if you don’t already have a Turkish visa, including an e-Visa, you can no longer enter the country as a United States citizen.We’ve received many questions from readers over the past 24 hours, several of whom don’t actually plan to enter the country — they’re simply booked on a Turkish Airlines flight connecting in Istanbul (IST)....

February 9, 2023 · 3 min · 478 words · Isaac White

Iberia Dirt Cheap Fares To Paris Brussels And Milan

Sign up for our daily newsletterEmail addressSign upI would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not share or sell your email. See privacy policy.Iberia flights (and codeshares) are pricing extra, extra cheap on travelocity.com and other online travel agencies.Try plugging in dates all throughout 2011 to Paris, Brussels and Milan- I am seeing roundtrip fares on tons of dates for as low as $251 roundtrip to MXP (Milan) from JFK....

February 9, 2023 · 1 min · 123 words · Eric Walker